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Jesse's Hunting > A Gun Dog's Life > Articles > Introductions and Salutations
Introductions and Salutations
Bryce Mann - JHO ProStaff
- Sierra Foothills, CA
May 21, 2007
On Point
Gun dogs are the author's passion. Here Reno, one of his top dogs, comes on point,. |
Let me introduce myself, my name is Bryce Mann and I have been a trainer of gun dogs for many years. I train all breeds of sporting dogs for the purpose of hunting upland game birds and waterfowl.
A few weeks back I received a call from JHO site owner, Jesse James about gun dogs. We had a great conversation which resulted in his request for me to meet his editor Phillip Loughlin. A couple of days later, Phillip was at my home to meet me and my gun dogs. The next morning found us on our way to hunt some bobwhite quail with a black powder SxS shotgun and my normal truck load of German Shorthair Pointers.
Phillip and I had a great day in the field watching the dogs at work with the added challenge of the black powder shotgun. The old side hammer was absolutely fascinating to me. I have had some experience with cap and ball but not the shotgun. I could not wait until he offered me a chance to try it!
I noticed that it requires a fairly large learning curve to adapt to the delay between the firing of the cap and the ignition of the powder charge. Phillip did offer me a turn but I most reluctantly had to turn it down until after the NAGDA National Finals, since I was preparing to leave in a couple of days, and was concerned that it may cause problems for me in the upcoming competition. Phillip understood, and said next time you’re on!
He also suggested a series of articles based on the upcoming national competition.
The North American Gun Dog Association is another hobby / passion of mine. This is a timed, gun-dog competition that is neither a test of the dog’s hunting ability nor of the hunter’s shooting skills Rather, it is a true test of the dog handler's ability to cover the field as efficiently as possible, in as short of time as possible, and to bag the birds with the fewest shots fired. Points are awarded for bird finds, points, and retrieves; with bonus points scored for unspent shells and unused minutes. The fields are usually around 20 acres and teams are given 20 minutes to cover them for the four bird quarry. Twenty minutes or the fourth bird in the bag stops the run.
I have been asked by NAGDA to help start events at new host clubs, I am willing to help get them started whenever and wherever possible. This sport has openings for everyone, we have entire families involved. There are divisions for ladies, youth, and amateur, senior, open / pro.divisions. Inside these divisions are subdivisions for flushing and pointing breeds of dogs along with puppy and doubles divisions. The NAGDA series is sponsored by Beretta, Black Gold, Cabela’s, Hi-Viz., Mendota and Tri-Tronics.
The bottom line is that this is fun! To learn more about NAGDA visit my links page at www.gun-dogs.net.
Look for more articles about gundogs by Bryce Mann in the JHO journal.
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